HO-HO-HO December monthly BANGER meeting

Thanks for the info.
.

 

Whoaaa horsey!

Ok, ok,...calm down. Everyon'e cool here and it should stay this way folks.

I understand your frusration, been there,...I think most of us have been really.

So,...anyway,....

 

Thanks CoalTown.

 

Hey, anytime,... share the love,... Merry Christmas,... Happy New Year,....

Boy, I need to wrench more and "HAMB" less,.... gotta get more work done while I have the time!!

he, he.....

 

i am a big fan of the bounce test. my 250 lb ass and at least one other lead foot fumping up and down on various parts of the chassis, checking for clearance and range of motion (easier than finding out on the road at 75)...ask Bluto about "infinite stiffness" and making a car handle.

and blame me for everything else, you'll feel better.

 

I'll just blame you for everything until you send me those chassis pics of your last T speedster build!

 

BANGER?
I barely knew her!

 

LOL!

Its weird, I keep finding instances of this setup here and there.
Photos, comments, the Bob Maze car and another who's name I can't recall right now, then the Gerber autobiography, (though Gerber of course as we both know had a slightly different setup) I swear, it HAD to work!! I cannot possbily imagine one after another being built and them running around over and over from race to race WITH problems in the chassis??!!

At the very worst, the spring will have to be messed with, if when all is said and done, I've missed something along the way and it doesn't work out?? "Then" I'll do a Gerber spring.

You've gotta think though, looking at it this way,....
One guy in the car, no stock body of anykind on it, lighter gas tank, no interior weight (ie, seats, glass, etc.) and the engine set back.... has to make for a much lighter car with much less force bearing down on the springs! Hmmmm,.....(lots of thinking)

Boy I wish that pre-1926 high arch spring was in my hands right now, I go out right now, 1:45AM and change it out with a flashlight to settle the "what if's" buzzing around my head right now! HA!

 

It was 60 degs today. I had to drive my car. I wish my freind would pave his driveway. I put over 30 miles on her today. Geat way to end the year.
Bill

 

Looking great!

 

high arch? disassemble the spring put in between 2 4x4's to get it off the ground a bit and space them out towards the ends with the eyes up. Now stand in the middle and bounce up and down a bit (gently, you are encouraging the spring to arch itself a bit, not forcing it: finesse it about an 1")...repeat on each leaf. This will "artificially" give you a rearched spring until your other one comes in the mail. (Would not recommend running it like this as you may accidentally over stress the leafs and lead to failure)

 

So last night I bought a nice little Wico mag for an A/B. Anyone help me out on installing it....wiring, do's/dont's??

 

PM me your email and I will send you an article on how to do it. Suppliers such as Taylor Engines sell the weights, used to be $40 but probably higher now.

 

Mags are easy, just put them in and go. The trick is geting the ground wire to work with your key switch so that you can turn the engine off when you want to. They dont have any automatic advace mechanisms so you will have so set the timing to full advance. There is a impusle drive in them that retard the timing at starting speeds so that start ups are easier. Make sure the points are clean and polished. Mag points are set tighter. set them Between .012" - .015". Plug gap will be @ .015" -.018". use non resistor plugs and wires. If you have a radio, you will get a lot of static. Keep you hand off of the wires when it is spinning, unless you like beeing shocked. It doesn't hurt, but it'll make you jump.

 

I used to time mine by advancing the mag to the point that it would just start to kick back with the starter and then just retard until the starter would crank it with out kicking back when warmed up. Most of the Wico mags for "A" "B" only have 12 degrees max so you want to get as much as you can,. The impulse lags behind the mag armature and when the RPM's reach a certain point the impulse is released and then the spark is at it's normal or advanced position. If you contact a Wico magneto repair Co. they can tell you the "Lag Angle" by referencing the model number. The Lag Angle is the number of degrees that the mag normally operates at after impulse is released. I have a key ignition switch for a mag but it is too long for an "A" dash.

 

I've been informed by a guy I met at a vintage tractor show who rebuilds mags that not all of the Wico JEMs will work on a Model A. Also, I know they wear the cam lobes to a knife edge,... Jim Brierely can explain it better than I as he ran one at one point.

 

Thanks for the info guys! Wonder why they would wear the distributor drive on the cam? Seems like it would not matter what kind of distributor it is. Also, what do you mean they do not work? If it is designed for an A or B block, what would make it not work????

 

I think what the guy at the tractor show was trying to say that as with all Wico mags there were different models and applications that the JEM style mag was used in. If your mag is a JEM 1509 then it was made for the Model A / B engine and you will not have any problems fitting it up. I can see in the picture that it had the correct drive coupling and base index for the Model A/B.

<O
The cam gear issue has to do with the additional rotating weight / resistance that the mag puts on the drive. Multiply that with a high pressure oil pump and you will see more wear on the center cam gear.<O
I think if you use a good oil and keep it fresh you shouldn't have to much to worry about. I dont think there is a cam lobe wear issue.

<O
Jim is defiantly the man to listen to about cam related stuff, but I would like to know some more details about his experience with this. How many miles were on the engine? What oil pump? which Mag, JEM or X? there are many things to consider. there are others on here that run mags, What are they seeing wear wise?
.<O

 

The Wico Jems and X's were made for many applications mostly tractors. If it fits then it is for "A" "'B". The ones for the "A" "B"'s have a bronze foot that is the clamp and locates into the locating hole in the head. These clamps/feet were being reproduced recently. In the 50's I ran one on my daily driver with no problems for 2 or 3 years. In fact the cam has been reground and now is in my Winfield flathead I still have that Wico. I once adapted the base from a Wico X for a Farmall tractor to fit one for the X for "A" "B". Also had to rework the shaft. I think you are referring to the cam oil pump drive gear rather than the lobes. Could be wrong though.

 

I seen that mag, If I hadn't purchased that NOS Willys distributor a couple of weeks back I would have been bidding against you Nice buy!

 

Thanks a lot Crazzy. Yes, the model number is JEM 1509...So I can quite sweatin now. It would be my luck to buy some worthless part

Thanks for all the helps guys, yet another priceless Hamb tid-bit

 

Yeah, I got it a lot cheaper than I thought I would too

 

Sometimes they are hiden and described wrong. I've gotten a couple for under $100.

I did a lot of research on mags when I was building my overhead engine. There are many options, but only one that I have found with centrifical advance. Maybe Mr Bluto can point us in the direction of others with automatic advance features.

The side drive Bosch that I am using has a manual advance lever that changes the timing 20 degrees. There is a Wico side drive mag with an advance lever too.

Finding a tach to work with a mag is difficult too.
.

 

Well, this one ran me 225.00....maybe not such a super sweet deal, but I would have thought it would have gone for more. Pretty much any other mag for any engine immaginable seems to go for huge $$$

When I get it installed I'm sure I'll have some questions. This will be going into the A engine for my new 29 roadster that I havn't seen with my own eyes yet

 

$225 is good. I've seen people pay almost $400 for them. Try and buy a mag for a SBC for that much!!!???!!!. I passed up a Model A Wico X mag for $200 at the LARS this year. I'm still kicking myself for that.
.

 

True that. I figured with a lot of people jumpin on the "banger wagon" stuff like this is just going up in price.

Seen a price tag for a Wico that fits a flathead V8 latley!!!!!!! OUCH


Whats the difference between an "X" and JEM???

 

The mags on these engines are Wico "X" mags.




Don't get too carried away with "investing" in banger engine parts. Most of the people that are into them are on fixed incomes. Part of the reason that I havn't pushed the trans adapter is that it is too expensive for the Model A crowd.

 

Wow, can spot one of them a mile away.

Trust me, I am on a fixed income just as much as the other guy I had to pawn some stuff in the classifieds last night after I bought it!!!!

 

Chris,
When you go to wire up the ground for the mag, you can use a relay to ground the mag when you turn the key off. Wire the mag ground wire to the normaly closed side of the relay and a keyed voltage source to the relay so that when the key is on, the relay opens, breaking the groung circut. When the key is turned off, then the ground circut is completed.

 

Wasn't Enbloc was trying to sort out a tach with a mag some time ago? Can't remember whether he managed it or not though.